By Tonia Okechukwu
The rise in food insecurity around the world is fast becoming a cause of concern for agri-businesses, agro-allied firms, food processing and manufacturing companies, and World Leaders.
The rising food insecurity has fuelled a growing need for more innovative and technology-driven agricultural practices.
Farmers – especially in Nigeria – are at the center of food production. The farmer in her quest to address the growing food crises in Nigeria is confronted with myriads of challenges.
Among many challenges that farmers face daily, inadequate financing, inaccessibility to markets both local and international, insecurity, lack of adequate food storage facility, and inability to manage post-harvest losses among others are the perennial challenges confronting farmers and active players in the food production value chain in Nigeria.
Rashak farms and Agro-Allied Limited is a fast-rising agri-business with over five years in the industry, a top 50 nominee of Africa Business Hero, and a women-led Agri-business that is redefining food production as well as empowering women farmers, youth, and people living with disabilities.
Rashak has the overarching goal to improve the agricultural value chain by providing farmers with top-quality inputs; ensuring that our suppliers (farmers) can access the right type of inputs, providing extension services as may be required, and developing solutions to curb post-harvest losses.
The operations of Rashak are technologically driven and based on emerging trends and practices such as crop breeding, crop protection, use of herbicides and biocontrol agents, as well as integration of technology in form of Artificial intelligence, hardware, and software solutions, to empower and support small-holder farmers, mostly women and the physically challenged.
Rashak offers a range of services that benefit both farmers – giving them a means to a better and sustainable livelihood – and its partners as they practice fair trade among other pristine agricultural practices. Rashak has also maintained a mutually beneficial business relationship with buyers (food processors and manufacturers) and suppliers (farmers), largely due to our core business principles of integrity and innovation, whilst engaging in interstate, intrastate and intercontinental trading.
As the government plays its role in providing financing, credit facilities, farm inputs – fertilizers, herbicides among others at subsidized rates;
Agri-businesses have the task of ensuring that farmers have regular access to agricultural inputs to enable them to enhance the farming process, fertilizers, and pest control mechanisms to reduce loss during the farming season and easy access to the market at harvest.
http://www.rashakagro.com.ng